Deuteronomy 8

1 You shall observe to do all the commandment which I command you this day, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers.

You must take care to follow every commandment I am giving you today, so that you may live and have many descendants, and go in and take over the country the Lord promised to give to your fore fathers.

2 You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, and to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not.

Remember how for these forty years the Lord your God has led you all the way through the desert, humbling you and testing you in order to find out what you were really thinking, and whether or not you would keep his commandments.

3 He humbled you, and allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you did not know, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that humankind cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God shall humankind live.

He humbled you, and when you were hungry he gave you manna to eat, which nobody, including you and your forefathers, had ever had before This was in order to make it clear to you that human beings do not live by only eating bread, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

4 Your clothing did not grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years.

During these forty years your clothing didn't wear out and your feet didn't swell up.

5 You shall consider in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.

So you should realize that just as a parent disciplines their child, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

6 You shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

That's why you have to keep the commandments of the Lord your God, following his ways and respecting him.

7 For the LORD your God brings you into a good and spacious land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills;

For the Lord your God is taking you to a good country. It's a land of streams and pools and springs that flow through the valleys and down the hills;

8 a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey;

It's a land that produces wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey.

9 a land in which you shall eat bread without scarcity, and in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper.

It's a land where you won't run out of food, where you will have everything you need; a land whose rocks contain iron ore and whose hills can be mined for copper.

10 You shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which he has given you.

When you eat and are full, make sure you thank the Lord your God for the good land that he's given you.

11 Beware lest you forget the LORD your God, in not keeping his commandments, and his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you this day:

Make sure you don't forget the Lord your God by disobeying his commandments and rules and regulations that I'm giving you today.

12 lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built goodly houses, and lived in them;

For when you eat and are full, when you build beautiful houses to live in,

13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied;

and when your herds and flocks grow larger, and your silver and gold accumulates, and all your possessions increase,

14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;

then you will become proud, and you will forget the Lord your God who led you out of Egypt, out of the prison-house of slavery.

15 who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with fiery serpents and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who brought you forth water out of the rock of flint;

He guided you through the immense and terrifying desert with its poisonous snakes and scorpions—a dried up, waterless land. He brought water for you out of a flint rock.

16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know; that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end:

He fed you in the desert with manna that your forefathers had never known, humbling you and testing you, so that eventually you would do well in the future.

17 and lest you say in your heart, "My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth."

You might think to yourselves, “I became rich through all my hard work.”

18 But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as at this day.

But remember it's the Lord your God who gives you the ability to become rich, in order to fulfill his agreement he promised to your forefathers that still exists today.

19 It shall be, if you shall forget the LORD your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.

If you ever forget the Lord your God, and run after other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, I assure you right now that you will definitely die!

20 As the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you wouldn't listen to the voice of the LORD your God.

In the same way the Lord destroyed the nations as you advanced, you will also die if you don't obey the Lord your God.